IMAGES

Biographies on the Disc Jockeys below

In Memory - Don Allen

The Caroline ship as she was back in 1930

1964

Don Allen

Some of the descriptions below were copied from a book which was written
whilst Radio Caroline was still going strong! Others (more modern one's) are taken from
the web. Credit below.

http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/story01.htm

Don Allen (RIP)

Don Allen Born in Ontario, Canada, on 8th March 1940, Don attended broadcasting school in Chicago and his first radio job was in north Manitoba. He worked throughout Canada, the USA and Mexico before coming to Britain to meet his English wife's family. He became interested in the offshore stations and was quickly snapped up by Caroline, where he started on the South ship. Sea-sickness intervened and he transferred to a shore-based job in Caroline House. The following year there were some vacancies on the North ship and Don was asked to help out temporarily. He found the larger ship much more stable and comfortable and ended up staying until the station close-down in March 1968. As well as hosting his own Big Wide Wonderful World of Daffy Don Allen, he also took over the Country and Western Jamboree when Jim Murphy left. He used a number of different theme tunes, including Trumpet Tramoure by Stan Reynolds, Romance on the North Sea by Alan Haven, Quite A Party by The Fireballs and, for the country show, Runaway Bunion by Phil Coulter. Don was Senior DJ up until Caroline's closure when he joined Manx Radio. He was also heard on BBC Radio Merseyside. During the seventies he returned to sea with Radio Northsea International as senior DJ / Programme Director. During the eighties he moved to Ireland and was on a number of stations there, his last being Radio 3 Tullamore. He died on 13th.May 1995 following a heart attack. A number of photographs taken by Don during his time at sea can be seen on Jim Murphy's excellent Caroline North tribute site. For more photos and recordings, check out Spotlight On “Daffy” Don Allen. (Thanks to Steve Kirby for providing some of the above information.

Jerry Leighton. (Senior DJ)

Jerry is known to listeners in both the north and south, having broadcast from both Caroline ships. He was born in London but emigrated to Canada with his parents when still very young. After completing his education and graduating from the University of British Columbia, he returned to England and worked in a variety of jobs including fashion designer, compere, singer, comedian, and script writer. All of these have helped in their own ways to equip him for the demands made on a dj--the last position in particular. In fact Jerry is noted for his gags and jokes over Caroline's air waves. He was one of the original d.j.'s with the organisation. beginning work on the first Caroline off Frinton in June 1964 and then, after the amalgamation with Radio Atlanta, sailing north to head the new team on 199. An enthusiast of most modern music, he likes "just relaxing'' when off the air.

Along with Tom Lodge and Alan Turner, the three remained on the air for a unique long-distance broadcast, as the ship travelled to her new anchorage off the Isle Of Man. Known as Jerry “Soopa” Leighton, he presented The Leighton Early Show on Caroline North and was Senior DJ. He used a number of different theme tunes including: Country Line Special by Cyril Davies, Hallelujah Gathering by the Geoff Love Orchestra and Super-Duper Man by Jimmy Cross. In 1966 The Beatles toured America and three offshore DJs accompanied them to send back reports. Kenny Everett went from Radio London, Ron O'Quinn from “Swinging” Radio England and Jerry went from Caroline. (You can hear one of Jerry's reports on the Rick Dane audio clip.) Jerry Leighton left Caroline in 1967 and has dropped from view. He has not kept in touch with his former colleagues and his current whereabouts are unknown. Keith Skues's excellent book Pop Went The Pirates says that after Caroline he ran an antiques business in Southampton with his wife. Another report claims that he managed the London Playboy Club for a time. But where is he now?

Jim Murphy. "Murph The Surf"

Big Jim Murphy is a dj by occupation but a pole squatter by inclination! Ever since he was seventeen, Jim has regularly climbed to the tops of poles and sat there, usually waiting for a record to become a hit. The first time he did it he spent thirty-nine days up aloft, but since then has established a record squat of forty-nine days. Born near the Gulf Stream of Texas, Jim loves the water and is an expert surfer. His love of music, C & W in particular, made him take to deejaying at an early age and he was heard over the air from numerous Texan stations including KAML, WAKY, KILT and KIBL. He also got in a lot of pole squatting before Uncle Sam called him up for military service. Big Jim has broadcast all over the world and been programme director on several occasions. He appeared on the English music scene early in 1965 when he came to pole squat until a record by the Cannon Brothers called "Turn Your Eyes To Me" reached the Top Twenty. If he hadn't been persuaded to come down, Jim would still be there today! Instead he decided to join up with the DJ's taking to the seas and became part of the Caroline set-up. Bearded Big J. is twenty-five years old and at 6 ft. 5 in. one of the tallest d.j.'s in Britain. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

His web-site was not updated after September 1998 and some of his former colleagues feared the worst. One of them, David Williams, confirmed these fears when he found this record of Jim's death on the web. David says: “Sadly it would appear that Jim died in June 2000. No further information is available but I know, when I talked to him in 1998, that he was incapacitated with some long standing illness contracted when serving in Vietnam. He was an eccentric (who else can claim a world record for sitting on top of a pole?) and I have fond memories of him and particularly remember being fog bound at Blackpool airport while trying to get back to the Isle Of Man for Mick Luvzit's wedding. We made it with minutes to spare.” Many thanks to David for passing on this sad news. At the time of writing, Jim's web site was still on line until 2009 when Geocities closed down. He was obviously very proud of the time he spent on Radio Caroline. Let's hope that, during the last few years of his life, the feedback he received via the site reminded him just how much he was appreciated by the listeners.

Mick Luvzit.

Twenty-two-year-old Mick-his surname is Luvzit-has experience in radio far beyond his years: in fact he had his own radio show in Canada when he was only sixteen! Born into a retiring and somewhat strict family on February 24, 1944, Mick spent many hours with musical instruments to broaden his interests. Singing and musical lessons were allowed him and in a very short space of time he had become accomplished on the guitar, drums, piano, electric bass and violin. Such was his talent that at fourteen he won the annual violin solo contest in Manitoba and was offered the opportunity of further study free of charge in Vienna. Mick, however was by now interested in another, fast-developing field of music, Rock 'n' Roll. To the dismay of his parents he formed his own Rock Band and proved his ability in any sort of music by landing a show for his group-he was lead singer-on Radio CKY in Winnipeg. Success led to his appointment as a DJ on the station and he also showed a flair for production which was encouraged. In rapid succession he moved to other Canadian stations including CHWO, CHIC and the number one station, CHUM. In June of this year Mick came to Britain and landed himself a spot on Caroline North. A thousand fan letters in the first week he was on the air convinced everyone that here was a new force on the air waves. Mick is not only a talented DJ, but is also capable of producing radio programmes, song writing and acting. Recently his first record "A Long Time Between Lovers" was released with his own composition "Tho' I Still Love You" on the flip side. When relaxing Mick likes most sport, reading good books and intelligent girls. He is 6 ft. tall with black hair and brown eyes. Certainly a DJ to keep your eyes on and your ears tuned to!

Mick Luvzit is the DJ who got married live on air. Born on 24th February 1944 in Portage La Prairie, Mantitoba, Canada, he was a talented musician, winning a violin competition at the age of 14. He worked for a number of Canadian radio stations, including CKY, CHWO, CHIC, CHUM and CFGM before heading for the UK. He initially joined Caroline South in June 1966 before moving to the North ship. He was welcomed by the listeners and received over a thousand fan letters in his first week on air. His theme was Tune Up by Junior Walker and the All Stars. While working on Caroline North he met Janet, the sister of a fellow Caroline DJ “Ugli” Ray Teret. They began dating and there was talk of marriage. Always looking for a way to promote the station, Mick suggested that they should capitalise on the romantic idea of being married at sea by a ship's captain and tie the knot on board the mv.Fredericia. The wedding took place on 20th September 1966, performed by the Caroline captain Martin Gips and with a commentary on Caroline North from news-chief Graham Webb. (For more about the wedding, see this article.) Sadly the marriage was not to last and they divorced during the seventies. Steve Young brought us up to date during 2000: “Mick Luvzit is living in Vancouver. He broadcasts for a Christian radio station located just across the border in Washington State. They built a studio for him in his home and he works from there.” In February 2001 Mick himself contacted The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame to say: “I'm busy putting together my studio here in my home so I can do some radio shows for the UK and Ireland.” In December 2001 the first of these took place when Mick guested on Kenny Tosh's programme on Belfast's CityBeat FM. This was followed by a live show on CityBeat in August 2002 when Mick was visiting the UK for a DJ reunion. There are pictures of the reunion on the Offshore Radio Guide and Radio London web sites.

Tony Prince.

Tony is the only disc jockey in Britain who was a real jockey before riding the waves with 199. At 5 ft. 4 in., he is also one of the smallest men at the microphone-but makes up for what he lacks in height with a driving ambition to be the best in the business. Born in Oldham in 1946, Tony had an inclination to be in entertainment from a very early age and in fact came second in a Butlin's Talent Contest when he was only fourteen. After leaving school he was an apprentice toolmaker for a while and also joined a Manchester beat group-- "The Jasons'', as a singer and guitarist. From here it was only a short step into television and a job with TWW in Bristol. He became quite a personality on the station appearing on "Discs A Go-Go" and was voted the West Country's number one d.j. in 1964. Tony joined Caroline North in December 1965 and has established himself all over again as a real star on the pop music scene. He has black hair and blue eyes and lists his hobbies as surfing, swimming, sunbathing and girls. He wants to continue deejaying but would like to record as well. He also says he wants to buy Radio Caroline!

He used two different theme tunes, both recorded by Sounds Incorporated: Go and I'm Coming Through. Tony stayed until the introduction of the Marine Offences Act in August 1967. He went on to be Programme Director of Radio Luxembourg. Since then he has been heard on Capital Gold in London and the now extinct Xtra-AM in Birmingham. Tony was quick to spot the potential of club culture and started the very successful Disco-Mix Club and the spin-off magazine Mixmag. This he later sold to publishing giant EMAP but he continues to run the club, now known as DMC International.

Bob Stewart.

To his fans Bob is the man with the mid-Atlantic accent. Despite this, however, his home town is Liverpool and he has spent much of his life in this country. After leaving school at sixteen he worked as a salesman for a time before trying to find adventure in Canada. While his stay was not particularly long or successful, he did have a chance to satisfy one ambition and take up compering. His first appearance was in Manitoba and from it Bob set his sights firmly on a career in entertainment. He had to content himself for a while working as a sales rep. for a typewriter firm and then a television company, but with the advent of Radio Caroline he knew his big chance had come. Now one of the station's most popular DJ's, Bob is twenty-five years old, has black hair, blue eyes and a personality all his own. His hobbies are swimming, bowling, driving and "wine, women and song". He lists his most noteworthy achievement as "nearly getting married".

“Baby Bob,” as he was known, presented the noon-3pm show. His catch-phrase was: “This is your Bobby baby who loves you so crazy.” He stayed with Caroline North until about six weeks before the introduction of the Marine Offences Act in August 1967. He joined Radio Luxembourg and was there for eighteen years. In 1987 he moved to Dallas, Texas, for a time but returned to Europe and was heard again on Luxembourg as well as Jazz-FM, Red Rose Preston, Capital Gold and others. He is now living back in Dallas where he has undergone surgery for cancer of the larynx.

Dave Lee Travis. "DLT"

Went to become one of the most famous of all DJ's with the BBC. He was also the victim of a well publicised "gotcha" by fellow ex-pirate DJ; TV Presenter Noel Edmonds.  More later.... Over the years he has not changed a bit, still the nut!! Dave is still going strong today! Profile: Dave Lee Travis: Dave Lee Travis was born David Patrick Griffin on 25th May 1945, two weeks after VE Day celebrations, in Buxton, Derbyshire, of working-class parents, Joe & Marian Griffin - who both had theatre roots.  His parents were working in London up to the time Marian was about to give birth.  She decided she wanted to be home in Manchester to give birth.  On the way, she became ill and stopped off in the tiny Derbyshire village of Eyam.  There being no facilities nor a direct route to Manchester, Dave's parents travelled on to Buxton, where again there was no direct link to Manchester.  This is where Dave was therefore born.  At the age of 11, he went to grammar school in Manchester where his main interest was art.  But he also had a liking for dismantling and rebuilding radios, to such an extent that he frustrated his mother when he attempted to fit a radio into the headboard of his bed - drilling two holes for the knobs! Dave consequently aimed at a career in his favourite subject on leaving school, and started out by designing interiors for stores.  It was during this period that he started working as a DJ in the local clubs and ballrooms in the Manchester area under his stage name of Dave Lee Travis..  He met up with a man who would be the future controller of BBC Radio 2, Jeff Mullin. A meeting with Herman's Hermits led to a tour of America with the group as their manager.  During this time, Dave even presented some American radio shows, and gathered a huge audience in a comparatively short time.  On returning to the UK, Dave jumped aboard Radio Caroline South's ship the Mi Amigo, enjoying regular rations of one case of beer and a carton of cigarettes.  In 1967, he jumped ship to the sister Radio Caroline North station aboard the Queen Frederica anchored off the Isle Of Man.  He escaped after two and a half years at sea, just before the Marine Offences Act took a grip that year.  On leaving the ships, he went home to Manchester.  This is where, in 1967 he met his future wife, Marianna, a Swede by birth who had visited a club Dave was working at. By the September, the BBC had decided the Light Programme had to come to end to be replaced by new pop station Radio 1.  At the end of the year, Dave made his debut presenting the 'Pop North' show from Manchester.  In 1971, he proposed, was engaged to and after three days was married to Marianna. In 1973 he moved to Radio 1HQ in London presenting his own tea-time show 'It's DLT OK!' at 4:30pm Monday to Thursday.  Dave's voice has become instantly recognisable around the world, partially due to 20 years presenting the BBC World Service programme 'A Jolly Good Show', a programme he continued to present beyond his Radio 1 stint up 1998.  Also in 1978, an on-air parody of the US hit Convoy, Convoy GB led to a release of the song as a single along with fellow DJ Paul Burnett.  The song reached No.4 and so, to give it a further push, it was suggested Dave & Paul go on Top of the Pops.  Once seen dressed as a pair of chickens, it's alleged that the song never sold another copy!   That very same year, in May,  Dave took control of the flagship Radio 1 breakfast show. David Jensen took over Dave's teatime show.  Dave Lee Travis carved out quite a time presenting Radio 1 during the 70s and early 80s - and during this period, matching his hobby of photography, he was voted the 'National Hairdressing Federation's' 'Head Of The Year' in 1980 and also, with his penchant for smoking, 'Pipe-man Of The Year' in 1982.  He even took the photo that was featured on a 1983 Radio Times shot to publicise a show he presented 'Photo Assignment'. Dave's other TV work apart from Top of the Pops included 'The Golden Oldie Picture Show' which saw Dave introducing tracks that never really had a video made for them, but deserved a TV airing.  Instead the BBC made a video to go with the song.  Dave is still very much interested in art - his other interests are archery and motor racing including drag racing - in 1974 he became the first DJ to win his class outright at a major international drag racing meeting.  Dave was able to take a car from Zero to 226mph in just six seconds. He presented the weekday lunchtime show  (early 70's), teatime show (mid 70's) breakfast show (late 70's) weekend mid-morning show (83-93) and invented the feature ''snooker on the radio'' on his later weekend show.  A classic moment was when Dave was 'Gotcha'd' by Noel Edmonds on his BBC TV House Party show. This involved two 'pub teams' playing Dave's 'Double Top' radio darts show, with Noel, one of the stooges.  The scam involved both sets of teams getting no questions right at all, resulting in a lengthy quiz, interspersed with several records and a verbally fuming Dave Lee Travis.  Finally, on a mobile phone, Noel entered the studio whilst talking in the same  funny voice and revealed all.  Jokingly, Dave said Noel would never work in radio again.  Funny that isn't it!  In 1987, he published his book 'A Bit Of A Star' which he dedicated to his late father Joe.  The book pictured celebrities in poses they'd hate to be in!  A popular part of Dave's radio style is his relationship with listeners using the telephone.  A particular moment on-air was in 1990, in the days before mobile phones and pagers when Dave was required to start an urgent search for Glyn Jones, who was awaiting a kidney transplant.  The hospital was frantically trying to get hold of Glyn to let him know a kidney had become available and that surgery was imminent.  As Glyn was a loyal DLT listener, he took his radio everywhere.  Dave's on-air announcement got the message through.  Once the Police understood this was not part of a wind-up, Glyn was escorted at top speed for his operation to take place. Dave was probably the presenter who revolted the most when Radio 1 was arguably massacred by Matthew Bannister into the shadow of it's former self it is today. Due to leave in a further ten weeks when his contract expired anyway, he famously resigned on air on the 8th August 1993.  Live on air, Dave told his loyal audience that changes were afoot that he could not tolerate - '....and I really want to put the record straight at this point and I thought you ought to know - changes are being made here which go against my principal and I just cannot agree with them.....' hence the end of Dave Lee Travis' Radio 1 career.  At the same time, other DJs, deemed 'old relics/fossils/school' by Bannister were also shown the door, or left voluntarily, irrespective of length of service or merit.  Although he offered his services to Radio 2, station management declined his offer.  His weekend Radio 1 morning slot was filled with Danny Baker.   Speaking on the recollection of that time in 2000, Dave said that although he thought it was not good to trawl up things such as that, he felt that he and Radio 1 had both reached a turning point, and that there were a lot of people in the front line who couldn't speak up about the pending changes, so Dave figured he had to do it for them. It will not be of a surprise to know that audience figures for the Saturday morning show formerly hosted by Dave plummeted from 15 million to 7 million within weeks of his departure. Dave disappeared off the radio dial for some considerable time, finally reappearing on Classic Gold, where to be honest it sounded like he was only working to pay the bills. Much like other big names on GOLD radio nowadays - restricted by liner cards and men in suits.  In 2000, whilst on-air reading out a station telephone number, with the desk being controlled not by Dave but by a Tech-Op, Michael Aspel visited with his red book to say 'DLT, T.I.Y.L - or Dave Lee Travis, This Is Your Life!'.  Dave's time at 'Classic Gold' ended on 9th March 2002.  When Derby's Trent-FM was GWR'd into what it is today, (RAM-FM) Dave's was the first voice to be heard saying in a whispered voice ...'I know you're out there ... I know you're listening ' then in normal voice '.... is it 10 o'clock yet?  Yes it is....'  He then 'welcomed' everybody to the new service stating he would be on during a Sunday morning (networked) although not admitted on air.' Whereabouts: Dave currently lives with his wife on a small farm in Hertfordshire, and there were strong rumours abound that he will be joining Saga 106.6 across the East Midlands when they launch in 2003, or Capital Gold Birmingham. However, in the 2013-1014 period legal proceedings were taken up against DLT, Ray Terret and other notables in the entertainment world for alleged sexual offences.

Tom Lodge.

http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/story11.htm Now with Signal Radio, Stoke on Trent.  Tom Lodge was born in Liverpool but was taken to the United States  when he was four. After completing his education, he and  an American Indian set out on two year expedition into the frozen  of the Arctic where his life was saved by a timber wolf, whom he named Mohair Sam.   Upon returning to North America he took a job as a cowboy on a ranch in Alberta, Canada where he wrote his book ''Beyond the Great Slave Lake".  Tom then became a DJ with the Canadian Broadcasting Company for whom he came to Britain as a freelance broadcaster. He joined MV Caroline in 1964 just before she sailed North and stayed with her off the Isle of Man.   At the end of 1965 Tom transferred to Radio Caroline South as chief  DJ in an effort to change  the south ship's sound to more or less the up tempo  carefree sound of the North ship.   Broadcasting was definitely in Tom's blood....his  grandfather was Sir Oliver Lodge who played a considerable part in the development of wireless telegraphy. http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/album11.htm - Tom Lodge - History of Radio Caroline.

Mike Ahern.

Was born in Liverpool on 30th.September 1942. His first job was in a clothes shop but he also worked as a barman and clerk before opening a club with a friend. This was a huge success but closed abruptly when the floor collapsed. He also worked in the legendary Cavern Club. He applied for a job with Radio Caroline, then operating from two boats at either end of the country. He was invited for an audition and, soon afterwards, joined the North ship off the Isle Of Man. In 1965 he and Tom Lodge, the northern station's biggest stars, were transferred to the South to boost flagging audiences. On both ships “your DJ Mike A” was responsible for the 9am-noon show and became the housewife's favourite. He used a number of different theme tunes including Buckeye by Johnny & The Hurricanes and Soul Sauce by Cal Tjader. Mike left Caroline in spring 1967 to make sure he was at the head of the queue when BBC Radio One opened for business. It worked. He was one of the original team but, sadly, did not stay long. On 8th October 1967 Mike co-hosted his one and only Radio One programme, the second edition of Top Gear. Ken Garner's excellent book, In Session Tonight, reports that his co-presenter was Pete Drummond, a view supported by Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame correspondent Peter Young. Mike, however, remembers it differently. He is adamant that he presented it with John Peel. Either way, it was a short-lived partnership. After this one appearance on the BBC Mike moved to Australia and worked on a number of stations there including 4BC, 6PM, 3UZ, 2KO and 7HT. He returned to the UK in 1988 and has since been heard on Essex Radio, Radio Aire, Piccadilly Radio, Capital Gold, Country-1035 and others. In January 2003 it was reported that Mike had disappeared. He had gone out for a walk on 3rd January and not returned. Friends were understandably concerned and raised the alarm. The police issued a missing persons bulletin but, eleven days later, he still hadn't been traced. The press picked up on the story (see the London Evening Standard) but almost immediately after this article appeared, Mike was found safe and sound in a local hospital, as reported by the BBC. For pictures of Mike on Radio Caroline, see Tom Lodge's photo album. For more recent photos taken at the August 2002 DJ reunion, see the Offshore Radio Guide and Radio London web sites.  http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/djsa.htm

Gordon Cruse.

Was born in Calgary, Canada, in 1942. He joined Radio Caroline South as a newsreader in August 1966 before transferring to the Caroline North ship. Here he continued to read the news but also presented programmes. Gordy stayed with Caroline until March 1967 and then returned to Canada. We asked if anyone could fill us in on his later career and, in November 2001, we heard from the man himself: “Greetings to all! This is Gord Cruse from Victoria BC Canada! I am alive and well and just retired from a 26 years stint at the Victoria Youth Custody Center... and I was quite excited at finding me in The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame. A brief history to update..left Radio Caroline North in March of '67, travelling back to Canada via London, Rome, Athens, Cairo, Kuwait, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Honolulu and Vancouver. I returned to CFQC Radio in Saskatoon doing programmes and commercials until March of '68 when I again travelled - this time to Australia. A year down under and back to Canada stopping in Victoria to see a broadcast friend landed a job at C-FAX 1070 as operations / music director in the summer of '69. In the summer of '76 I began work in the Victoria Youth Custody Center as a youth supervisor. As of spring 2002 I am retired and will be enjoying one of those great government superannuations and living life to its fullest.... Wonderful to be part of this.” Gordon returned to the UK in August 2002 to attend a DJ reunion and can be see on the Offshore Radio Guide and Radio London web sites.

Bill Hearne.

Another Londoner turned Canadian, like Dave Cash, Keith Hampshire, Jerry Leighton and others. Bill was born on 6th August 1927 and moved with his parents to Toronto at the age of three. He came back to London when he was 17 to attend college then returned to Canada where he became a commercial artist. He also studied broadcasting and began to work in radio. In 1964 he headed back to the UK and, after a brief spell with Radio Luxembourg, joined Caroline North in April 1965. Bill's colleague on the ship, Jim Murphy, on his Caroline North tribute site, mentions that Bill used to provide voices for Gerry Anderson's television puppets during his week ashore but we have not been able to confirm this on any of the numerous Gerry Anderson fan sites. Can anyone provide more information? Bill was Programme Director for the South ship until January 1966 and, in June, transferred to Radio London. He only stayed three months before returning to Caroline. It was on this second spell with the station that he became best-known as the voice of Caroline Cash Casino, a hugely successful competition which went out hourly every morning on both Caroline ships. Although the prize money pales in comparison to the figures given away now, it was the first time that thousands of pounds had been offered on the radio in the UK and Caroline House became stuffed to over-flowing with sacks of entries. It was estimated that in the first eleven weeks of Cash Casino, one million people took part in the competition. By the end of twenty-seven weeks, four million. After the end of his time with Caroline, Bill returned to Radio Luxembourg for a while but his later career remained a mystery until Simon Broad contacted The Pirate Radio Hall Of Fame: “A friend of mine was a graphic designer for the Open University in the mid-70s, and remembers Bill Hearne working as a technical model-maker, occasionally appearing on screen in a white coat, wheeling the said models on!” Thank you to Simon and, if anyone has any more information about Bill, please get in touch

Ric Jonns.

Born Richard John Turton on 26th January 1943 in Thorpe, Norfolk, Ric was working as a ten-pin bowling instructor in Oldham in the early sixties when he met Tony Prince. Tony was then a club disc-jockey and, through him, Ric began playing records at the Oldham Astoria. He also took care of the lighting at the Manchester Plaza. It was there that he met a group called Herman and the Hermits. Ric became their road manager. They later found fame with the shorter name of Herman's Hermits. Ric joined Radio Caroline in late 1964 and, after a short stint on the south ship, switched to the north. The exact dates are long forgotten but his sister Sue thinks he stayed with Caroline for about a year but left to work on American radio - a job he found with the help of Peter Noone (“Herman”). He was one of the first, possibly the very first, English disc-jockey to work in America, presenting on WAIR in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After about three years on US radio and television, Ric returned to the UK. He was involved in band management among other things. One of his ventures involved teaching skate-boarding but he was too early. The craze did not catch on for a few more years and this was not as big a success as he had hoped. In the late seventies he returned to the States and was earning a living teaching soccer when tragically he died in a car accident in 1985. He was just 42. (With many thanks to Ric's sister Sue Field for providing much of the above information and the photograph, and to Alex Field for putting us in touch.)

Martin Kayne.
In the background, Dee Harrison; Don Allen; Wally Meehan; Marl Sloane & Jim Gordon

Born 27th October 1943 at Gravesend, in Kent, he joined the RAF after school and trained in catering. While stationed in Cyprus he did a bit of part time work on the local forces radio station. On his return to the UK he decided he wanted to continue in broadcasting, bought himself out of the RAF and sent a tape to Radio Essex. He was invited to an interview and offered a job, although he claims it was more because he could cook than because of any broadcasting skills. He joined Radio Essex in January 1966 and used the name Michael Cane. Radio Essex was prosecuted under the Wireless Telegraphy Act at the end of November but he had left by this time because of a spell of poor health. He moved to Radio 355 and changed his name to Martin Kayne, using the theme tune Dreamin' by Mood Mosaic. Despite gathering a loyal following, 355 only lasted a matter of months. Its life was cut short by the Government introducing the Marine Offences Act. Radio 355 closed down ten days before the act took effect in August 1967. This new law meant the end for most of the other stations but Radio Caroline was determined to fight on. Some of the existing Caroline DJs left rather than break the law so there were suddenly a number of vacancies for experienced broadcasters. Martin joined Caroline North where he stayed until the ship was towed away the following March. He did go back to sea with Radio Northsea International for a few months in 1971 but now works in catering. He has written a page in Short Wave Magazine for many years under his real name of Andy Cadier. He has also been heard on air again on Silversound Radio, Folkestone, a restricted service station, presents a weekend show on hospital station Radio Victoria and has recently been on another restricted service Hythe FM. Some personal photos from his time with Radio Essex and Radio 355 can be seen on the Offshore Radio Guide web-site. He has also sent us a great picture of himself on the air on Radio Caroline North. He says it was “taken by a German journalist just after the MOA (Marine Offences Act) .... I remember trying to resist looking into the camera to protect my rather dubious anonymity, though I do suspect the authorities did know quite a lot about us anyway.”

Ray Teret.

Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Ray had worked as a warehouse clerk, apprentice heating engineer and waiter at the Ritz Ballroom in Manchester before landing his job with Radio Caroline. Writing in Monitor magazine some twenty years later, Ray owned up to be being somewhat economical with the truth at his Caroline audition: “I said I'd worked in a Mecca dance hall for two years. I didn't lie to them. They never asked me if I'd played (any) records!” From waiter to broadcaster in one jump, he joined Radio Caroline North in August 1965, using his mother's nick-name for him on the air. He became known as “Ugli” Ray Teret. His theme tune was Jungle Fever by The Tornados but he also used The Ugly Bug Ball by Burl Ives. Ray invested the money he earned on Caroline in a boutique on the Isle of Man, which was run by his sister Janet. Through her brother, Janet got to know the other Caroline DJs and she fell in love with Mick Luvzit. Offshore radio's first and only on air wedding took place on 20th September 1966 when the two married. Ray had left the station by this time and has since been heard on both the BBC and commercial stations, notably Manchester's Piccadilly Radio and Signal Radio in Stoke on Trent. Footnote: Ray Teret killed himself on 29 October 2013 on the day he was due in court on sexual assault charges. He had been employed as Jimmy Savilles driver.

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